Warren Buffett is an accomplished enough guy that a full account of his career probably deserves several volumes of rather larger size, but this is a good introduction to his life, career, and general investment philosophy. While it suffers from having been published in 1995, meaning that it includes nothing on the last third of his career (though the 2008 edition contains an updated Afterword), it's useful enough to be worth picking up for anyone who's interested in his investment history, a broad overview of his strategies, or simply curious about his personal life.

What should an investor, or anyone interested in finance, make of Buffett's career? He didn't invent value investing, which was pioneered by his mentor Ben Graham, but he's been its most famous and successful practitioner so consistently over the decades that it seems like there must be some trick beyond simply looking at P/E ratios and book values. It seems implausible that Buffett has simply been lucky - he's just way too rich - and yet it's hard to explain his run of success using common views of how finance works. The history of finance is replete with the corpses of investors who tried to beat the market too consistently and by too much (keep an eye out for Salomon Brothers executive John Meriwether, whose spectacularly doomed hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management would be the subject of Lowenstein's next book, When Genius Failed), and yet despite a recent spate of poor performance, Buffett has been beating the market regularly for 63 years, longer than a majority of investors have been alive. Has he been exploiting some kind of glitch in the Efficient Markets Hypothesis? Does his particular variant of buy-and-hold have a hidden advantage over index funds? Is value investing exempt from law of large numbers/diminishing returns issues? Will a strict avoidance of conflict and hostility be a superior strategy in an environment of leveraged buyouts and junk bonds? Lowenstein can't completely settle these questions (if it were that easy to replicate Buffett's success, surely there would be more than one Buffett by now), but his accounts of how Buffett viewed his strategic issues offers a lot of insight into what motivated each particular investment decision.

And there are plenty of decisions. Going into the book, I knew that Berkshire Hathaway was his investment vehicle, but I had no idea of its history as a gradually declining textile conglomerate before Buffett transformed it beyond all recognition. As he was gradually nudging the company away from its roots in the New England cotton mills that had been its livelihood, I was reminded of Danny DeVito's speech in Other People's Money about not letting sentimentality about old business models holding back future growth, though Buffett's later adventures like getting into a circulation war as owner of the Buffalo News showed his emotional side. Buffett himself considers his purchase of Berkshire Hathaway a mistake, given that his initial large share purchase was motivated in large part by spite after a counterparty at the firm tried to chisel him out of 1/8 of a point on the share price; if he had simply invested directly in the insurance businesses rather than buy them through Berkshire, he would have made about twice as much money. Lowenstein quotes from "The Joys of Compounding", where Buffett makes the same point in a different way:

"I have it from unreliable sources that the cost of the voyage Isabella originally underwrote for Columbus was approximately $30,000. This has been considered at least a moderately successful utilization of venture capital. Without attempting to evaluate the psychic income derived from finding a new hemisphere, it must be pointed out that even had squatter's rights prevailed, the whole deal was not exactly another IBM. Figured very roughly, the $30,000 invested at 4% compounded annually would have amounted to something like $2,000,000,000,000 (that’s $2 trillion for those of you who are not government statisticians) by 1962."

In other words, always pay attention to the opportunity cost of money, and realize that even seemingly very successful purchases might have foreclosed even more profitable, if more subtle, options. Of course, Buffett's actual record doesn't look so bad - GEICO, Coca-Cola, American Express, Wells Fargo, Salomon Brothers, etc. - yet it seems like there's a consistent theme, that being bearish when everyone else is bullish, and vice versa, is a consistently safe strategy, particularly when investing in large brands with stable fundamentals. For lack of a better way to put it, other investors who tried to be as cautious as Buffett were never as bold when the situation called for it, and investors who tried to match him in boldness usually lacked sufficient caution at key moments.

Whether that's a philosophy that can be sufficiently mathematically rigorized is beyond me, and Lowenstein doesn't attempt to quantify Buffett's strategies. That's fine for a short volume, because it leaves room for the biographical information that most readers will want. The book covers his childhood in Omaha, his college years, his study under value investor Ben Graham, his partnership with like-minded investor Charlie Munger, his marriage and mistress, and his often-strained relationships with his children. Buffett has been famously miserly and uninclined towards charity, which the book explores. Whether you agree with Milton Friedman's infamous paper that "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits" or not, the contrast between Buffett's repeated statements that he plans to give all his money away and his actual record of relatively minor philanthropic activity is striking, especially also given his refusal to establish a Rockefeller-type dynasty and his advocacy for higher taxation of the rich. Yet even if there's a philosophical contradiction in there somewhere, Buffett's integrity is unquestionable, particularly when he's sharing the stage with characters like Ivan Boesky or Michael Milken.

Overall Lowenstein does a great job of condensing Buffett's life, ideas, and career into a single manageable book, and though I often wished he would expand more on topics, doing so would have made the book less accessible. He's a more sensible and less sensationalist writer than someone like Michael Lewis (whose misrepresentations of Buffett's record come in for some criticism), and while this book probably won't be the last stop for anyone curious about one of the greatest investors in history, it's an excellent first one.

"Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist" by Roger Lowenstein is a fascinating read that provides great insight into the personal and professional life of Warren Buffett. The book does an excellent job of delving into Buffett's investment philosophy, his unique approach to business, and the pivotal moments that shaped his career.

The chapters that are narrowly focused on specific events, such as the acquisition of the Washington Post or the war of the newspapers in Buffalo, are particularly thrilling and read very well. These chapters provide a deep dive into the intricacies of these events and showcase Buffett's shrewd business acumen.

On contrary, there are chapters that aim to give overview of Buffett's activities across a period of time, which read more like a compilation of articles from financial journals and can be a bit tedious (e.g. Go Go era).

It's clear that the author has a personal affection and admiration for Buffett, which comes through in the writing. This is not entirely surprising in this type of book, but it is worth noting that the book is not an entirely objective biography.

Overall, "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist" is a well-written and engaging read that provides valuable insight into one of the most successful investors of our time. Anyone interested in finance or investing would find this book to be a worthwhile addition to their library.

The best Buffett book, by far!

Buffett is a modern day hero. Lowenstein does a great job of telling his story in this book while also hammering home some of the reasons why he is so successful: discipline, sticking to his circle of competence, and I dare say most importantly his midwestern values (honesty, fairness, frugality).

Đây là cuốn sách đầu tiên mình đọc về đề tài chứng khoán, nhưng nó không đơn thuần là các kiến thức dạy về chứng khoán mà là quá trình trở thành nhà tư bản Mỹ, một trong những tỉ phú giàu nhất thế giới chỉ bằng việc đầu tư giá trị. Cuốn sách giúp mình có cái nhìn đầy tôn trọng về việc đầu tư chứng khoán - đó là môn nghệ thuật, cần nhiều nỗ lực và chất xám để mang về một thương vụ đầu tư thành công. Cách thức đầu tư của Buffet đã cho mình những tư duy mới về đầu tư:
- hiểu lĩnh vực bạn đầu tư
- làm việc như điên để tìm ra công ty tiềm năng mà giá cổ phiếu < giá trị
- nhìn được sự phát triển dài hạn của công ty
- hốt cổ phiếu của công ty đó
- kiên nhẫn chờ đợi (có thể là vài năm hoặc vài chục năm)
- thu về số tiền lớn không tưởng (nhờ vào sư lợi hại của lãi kép)

a good insight to the life and thinking of Warren Buffett

It is very good biography of the Oracle of Omaha. It certainly gives an insight into the life of Warren Buffet - his childhood and younger years are very well captured. I felt a little lost towards the middle where I thought the details surrounded around only the business he did with others. In other words the details came from his business companions and acquaintances. Here, I felt, the author could have used a bit of help from Warren Buffett.

I thought portions of the book blabbered too much, hence the lost star.

Overall a very good read. Highly recommended

I wish I could give this 3.5 stars.

The first major biography of Warren Buffett. Written without active support by Buffett (he also didn't discourage anyone from working with Lowenstein). I felt Lowenstein's writing in When Genius Failed, the account of the failure of Long Term Capital Management, was stronger. In contrast to Snowball by Alice Schroeder, this book focused more on Buffett as the investor and major owner of Berkshire Hathaway. Charlie Munger's role and contributions are largely sidelined in this story. Too bad, since Munger had a significant role in the evolution of Buffett's thinking from pure Graham to a blend of Graham/Fisher/Munger/Buffett. Nonetheless, it does a good job of going into detail in places where Snowball doesn't (like the Salomon Brothers episode). Aspects of his relationship with Susie Buffett were also left out (especially after she left for California). Definitely has more of a tilt of Buffett as an "American capitalist" than Buffett as a person.

Really long and worth every moment. Buffett has a truly fascinating life story. A bit outdated, ends in 1995 but captures what seem to be the most formative and exceptional times.

Warren Buffett the investor and capitalist shone through as brilliant as expected. Warren Buffett the human was a little disappointing, in that he came across as being very one dimensional. Not into sports or mischief, born as a person very into numbers, hyper-focused on making money, and just good at finance without putting in sweat or gathering elbow grease. No insights about his philosophy of life, apart from some trauma from his mother's mental condition, and some left-leaning politics. No hobbies, apart from the ukelele and bridge. True, he faced peaks and valleys, but so do most people in life and career. Overall, I still find this book inspiring, but I hope to follow up with reading better literature on Warren.

Although I read the version from 1995, I thought it painted a good picture into the life of Warren Buffett, and it was refreshing to see that even he made investment mistakes throughout the years, but yet still managed to become one of the richest men alive.

Warren Buffett is incredibly interesting. It is great to read about him.

This book isn't revelatory, because the Warren Buffet story has been told many times. The Midwesterner coming from a family of grocers, with a strict Republican Congressman father, parleys some pinball machine earnings and the advice of Columbia University Professor Benjamin Graham into one of history's greatest fortunes. But this is a model biography, one with lucid prose and easy grace, that weaves the story of Buffett into the story of American investing, politics, and business in the 20th century.

Roger Lowenstein does manage to cloud Buffett's picture of an idyllic upbringing. Buffett's father was fundamentally decent, but also strict; and he was not just a conservative, but almost a radical, and for awhile a member of the John Birch Society. His mother, although kind, had manic and violent episodes. One friend recounts how Buffett would almost recoil when his mother came to hug him. Yet Buffett's sunny disposition, hyper-rationalist love of numbers, and competitiveness were all there from an early age, when he would memorize almanac city population numbers with his friends. Perhaps influenced from a few hard Depression years after his birth in 1930, he also wanted to be rich. In his early teens he already said he would jump off a building if he wasn't a millionaire by thirty. By his 20s, he was already worrying about his future fortunes spoiling his children.

Buffett seems to have embodied John Maynard Keynes dream that stock investors would "marry" their investments, instead of just treating them as a short-term fling. Buffett's desire for continuity was indeed manifest in his stock picks. He said his favorite holding period was "forever" and kept stocks like GEICO for half-a-century. At one point in the 1980s, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway only held three main stocks, GEICO, Washington Post, and Cap-Cities/ABC.

For fans of the Efficient Market Hypothesis, like myself, Buffett, much like James Simons, has long presented a dilemma. This book does show that Buffett did more than just pick stocks. He sat on the boards, he encouraged and advised CEOs, and, for some of his wholly-owned companies, he distributed capital. For a brief time in the early 1990s he took over as chairman of Salomon Brothers. On the whole, however, one might have to accept the possibility that Buffett was able to find a handful of truly great picks that really paid off. In general, he liked companies that were like a "toll bridge," where everybody had to cross over. That's why he loved one-town newspapers, like the Buffalo News and the Washington Post (after it ate up the Washington Star and endured a strike).

In the 2007 afterword, Lowenstein asks himself if there is anything he would change about the biography. The one thing, in retrospect, that he thinks he didn't fully capture about Buffett was his toughness. This avuncular (the word is almost inevitable when discussing Buffett), absent-minded, affable Midwesterner was also hard as steel. Unlike other investors or executives, he said "No" frequently, and didn't suffer fools. But the other thing I think this biography misses is Buffett's competitive streak. Lowenstein attributes Buffett's accumulating tendencies to his lifelong fear of death. He was an agnostic from a religious family who loved the familiar more than anything, and so of course the radical break of death did carry a particular terror for Buffett, one which the vertiginous and infinite possibilities "compounding interest" almost seemed to comfort. I would also say that the book misses some of Buffett's competitiveness, which is expressed in his desire for a level playing field and his strong belief, vindicated of course, that he could win on one.

But for a portrait of a man who, on-and-off for decades, has been America's richest man, and yet somehow one of its most decent, this book can't be beat.